The Cave des
Vignerons Foréziens was founded in 1959, following a meeting of
like-minded growers, on the 18th December that year in the old
Central Hotel in Boën. It was not until the 1962 harvest, however, that
its members delivered their first crop (of 1,850hl), having first needing
to build their winery. From that point on, the co-operative has dominated
the production of the region, at one stage holding a virtual monopoly on
the wines of the Côtes du Forez appellation as well as absorbing growers
from the Roannaise when the Renaison co-op folded in the early 1980s.
Today, only one grower continues to deliver his grapes from the north of
the département, trucking his
Vin de Pays grapes down from Pouilly-les-Nonains on the Roannaise plain.

The co-operative controls a total of 123 hectares of vines, of which 110ha
are dedicated for the production of Côtes du Forez, with 10ha of Gamay
being diverted for the production of a Vin de Pays Demi-Sec Rosé. A total
of 85% of these vines are situated north of Montbrison, with a nominal
five coopérateurs from the
south of the region delivering the balance. In addition to Gamay, there
are 3.5 hectares of Chardonnay planted on 600 metre high slopes between Boën
and Marcilly-le-Châtel.

Situated on the main road out of Boën on towards Montbrison, the cellar
vinifies around 6,500hl of wine each vintage, or around 75% of the wines
of the appellation. Of this, around 65% of their production is dedicated
to Côtes du Forez rouge (five different ways with Gamay) and 20% as Vin
de Pays d’Urfé. From its origins as a classic piece of French
co-operative architecture, the cellar has been expanded, with one building
added each decade since 1962. Whilst some of the original 150hl cement
tanks still exist, these have mainly been replaced by stainless steel
vessels.

There are a total of 65 coopérateurs
(there were 260 members in the mid 1990s), of which 25 vignerons represent 95% of the production. This is very much a
community of mixed farming and winegrowers can also be expected to have
other agricultural interests such as dairy or meat herds, pigs, or work
the land as arborists. Around half of the vineyards are still harvested by
hand, illustrating the fractioned nature of its members and their
individual vineyard holdings.

Winemaker Pierre Rolle is a Forézien, but doesn’t come
from a family of vignerons. He studied at Montpellier and worked stages in
Bordeaux and Australia before returning to take on the responsibility of
production (at the age of 28) in 2008.

THE
WINES:

As with most
co-operatives who are forced to chase the market, there is a large range
of wines produced, especially when one considers the limitations of
working with a single grape variety – other than a little Vin de Pays
Chardonnay. This perfectly clean but rather ordinary tank fermented Vin de
Pays d’Urfé Chardonnay is
bottled early for immediate consumption. It may undergo malolactic
fermentation depending on the conditions of the vintage. This wine
accounts for about 3% of the total cellar production. Their other Vin de
Pays d’Urfé release is a Rosé
Demi-Sec which has between 25 and 30g/l residual sugar and is
produced without malolactic fermentation which helps out the sugar/acid
balance. Production of this wine hovers around 15% of the cellars capacity
each vintage, but increases in the less good years.

Their Côtes
du Forez Rosé accounts for around 600hl of wine (15% of total
production) each vintage. and has around 3g/l residual sugar and undergoes
malolactic fermentation. Both Rosés here are produced by pressurage
direct only and are clean, if undistinguished.

The reds have always traditionally been produced using the carbonic
maceration method in the classic Beaujolais style, although young Rolle is
experimenting with pre-fermentation maceration on wines grown on the
volcanic soils and with thermovinification on some of the other cuvées.
There are currently five different red wines sold under the Côtes du
Forez appellation :

Tradition
is the mainstay of the cellars production and comes from vines grown
mostly on granite soils and is very much designed for early drinking.

Les Loges
is a little more serious and comes from selected parcels, with the blend
made up of wines grown on around 70% granitic and 30% volcanic soils.

Domaine du Montabourg
is offered as a single vineyard wine and takes its name from a volcano
situated just north of the
village
of
Marcoux
. These are south facing terraces of 25 year old vines planted on volcanic
soils. The vineyard belongs Thierry Barre whose grandfather one was of the
original founders of the co-operative.

Pierre Dellenbach
is named after the first President of the co-operative and is derived from
parcels sited on volcanic soils.

L’Astrée
conforms to the Pierre Dellenbach cuvée,
but raised for 6 months in second hand barrels sourced from
Bordeaux
and
Burgundy
. It is the obligatory oak-aged wine in the cellar and lends nothing
worthwhile to the range.

Finally, Moussette
d’Astrée is a sparkling release, the second fermentation
process being handled by a firm in the
Beaujolais
. It is available as either Brut or Demi-Sec.

Wine Overview:

The
reputation of the Cave des Vignerons Foréziens, both within the region
and beyond, is mixed to say the least. Certainly during the mid 1990s when
the co-operative controlled some 98% of the appellations wines, there was
much criticism, with Clive Coates MW writing in 1998: ‘I find Côtes du Forez one of the least inspiring of France’s VDQS
wines and its promotion to AC in 1999 unjustified. The wine from the co-op
is light, dull and an example of maceration carbonique at its worst…
Their scruffy premises and rather cavalier attitude towards the
possibility of bacterial contamination of wine do not engender much
enthusiasm for the appellations future’. So how much of this is
still true ten years later? Bearing in mind my visit coincided with the
2008 vintage in bottle and a recent change in winemaker, I have elected
not to be too damning on wines for what lies in tank from the excellent
2009 vintage is clearly superior, and one must have confidence in the
young Pierre Rolle going forward.